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University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Thursday, February 25, 1982 Vol. 109 No. 33 Lincoln, Nebraska Copyright 1982 Daily Nebraskan
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Photo by Jodie Fields
Don Wesely
Wesely learned fast
promoting university
from legislative seat
By Melinda Norris
If anyone had told Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln the
odds against a 23-ycar-old graduate student with no fam
ily ties in politics being elected to the Nebraska Legisla
ture, he might not have run in 1978.
Now Wesely, the third youngest senator to serve in
the Legislature, is gearing-up for his 1982 re-election
campaign.
As a young graduate assistant at UNL, Wesely had
intended to finish his studies and go on to law school.
He had planned to help poor people by giving them legal
aid.
But encouragement from friends to run for the
seat left by retiring Sen. Wally Barnett Jr. persuaded
Wesely to try his hand at a different form of public
service.
After his election to the 26th District, Wesely was told
by the same friends, that although they thought he should
run, they didn't expect him to win.
Wesely said the odds against him winning the seat were
eight or 10 to one.
"At first, I was a typical citizen who didn't know much
about the Legislature," Wesely said.
He wasn't aware of the people, problems and long
hours involved with being a senator, he said.
But Wesely learned fast and pursued legislation about
energy, health care and the University of Nebraska.
"The university wasn't being well supported," he said.
"I haven't done as much as I wanted, although I've
tried."
Wesely said he worries about the direction the uni
versity is going. The university tries its best to maintain a
quality education, but because of the lack of funds
it is trying to "hold steady" rather than improve, he said.
Commenting on President Reagan's plan to eliminate
federal aid to graduate students, Wesely said financial
aid helps many students get through college.
"Without help I wouldn't have been able to go to
college," he said. "Students must be able to get financial
assistance, or the government is denying people the right
to an education." n
"Public education is vital to our country, he said.
Continued on Page 6
Cuts in university's budget may result
in fewer student services, classes
By Alice Hrnicek
UNL. colleges, forced in December to cut their 1981-82
budgets by 2 percent, face a budget for next year that will
cause many of them to offer fewer classes and services.
The 2 percent cut in the base budget - the budget on
which next year's increase is based - was approved by the
special session of the Nebraska Legislature last fall, said
Alan Seagren, vice president for administration. The Legis
lature actually cut 3 percent from the budget but 1 per
cent was made up by tuition from a larger than expected
enrollment, Seagren said.
Although the Legislature's Appropriations Committee
recommends a 6.1 percent increase for NU, the extra
money will represent only 4.1 percent more than the ori
ginal 1981-82 appropriation because the base budget was
reduced.
Much of that increase will be used for a 5 percent aver
age increase for faculty salaries, Virginia Corgan, acting
assistant to the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs said.
But the increase will not provide competitive salary ad
justments, she said.
Corgan said the university may consider eliminating en
tire programs to cope with future budget losses. In recent
years, scaling down programs has hurt their quality, she
said.
Gary Schwendiman, dean of the College of Business
Administration, said the college may close up to 50 class
sections next year and hire fewer graduate assistants.
CBA, which had an enrollment of 2,749 this semester, al
ready offers courses on priority system based on senior
ity, he said.
The College of Engineering and Technology was able to
fill only half of 14 vacant faculty positions this year, Dean
Stanley Liberty said. The college needs $150,000 more to
make positions competitive, he said, but existing money
from the unfilled jobs may have to be used to increase
other salaries.
Liberty predicted that students would be denied 1 ,800
class space requests, 300 more than this semester.
Roy Keller, chairman of the Computer Science Depart
ment, said that this spring about 300 students were denied
access to his department's classes. He expects that number
to be even larger in the fall.
This semester, one out of four people who applied for
computer science courses was turned away, Keller said.
The department may, for the first time, institute an
admissions policy to classes based on grades and major,
he said.
With the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resour
ces, teaching, research and extension will be pinched, said
Roy Arnold, dean and director of the Agriculture Exper
iment Station. The IANR now has 53 vacant positions
that are to remain unfilled next year, Arnold said.
Research into conservation tillage, water quality,
water conservation and energy use in agriculture will be
reduced because of the smaller staff, he said.
At lease 12 of the experiment station's 29 vacant pos
itions will be permanently eliminated, Arnold said.
The UNL Veterinary Diagnostic Library, which has
frozen several positions, is not able to keep up with re
quests for study of disease and death among animals,
Arnold said.
Ted Hartung, College of Agriculture dean, said four
departments have stopped providing field trips that allow
students to see farm production facilities. The move af
fects 600 students, he said.
Hartung said he expects to reduce the number of lab
sections and to lose graduate assistant positions. More
than 10 class sections will not have enough space to meet
all the requests, he said.
Specialists lost
Leo Lucas, dean and director of Cooperative Extension
Services, part of IANR, said three extension specialists
will be lost, adding to the six positions now vacant.
Two county extension offices will be closed, he said.
Deuel and Garden counties and Logan, McPherson and
Lincoln counties are discussing merging their offices,
Lucas said. The state has 85 extension offices.
IANR research in the Sandhills region of the state will
be delayed, said Vince Dreeszen, director of the Conser
vation and Survey Division. The two-year-old Gudmund
sen Sandhills Research Center has started the first water
and soil research in the area, Dreeszen said.
Without the research, he said, decisions about water
use within the area will be made without adequate infor
mation. Teachers College Dean Robert Egbert said his college
will be unable to expand its Vocational and Special Edu
cation programs because of lack of funds. Expansion was
included in the university's five-year-plan, he said.
Also in Teacher's College, five positions of combined
faculty and clerical help will be eliminated, he said.
In the Department of Modern Languages and Liter
atures, beginning language class sizes will be increased
from 25 to 30 students, said Chairman David Gitlitz.
The most effective class size is 12 to 15 students be
cause of the need for intensive interchange among class
members, Gitlitz said. Six class sections will be eliminated,
he said.
Section dropped
Modern Languages 100, a survey course, will be in
creased to serve about 100 students per section so that
one section can be dropped, he said. Currently, each of
the five sections of the course has about 50 students
enrolled.
A remedial 103 level course in grammar and structure,
offered in different languages, will be ended, Gitlitz said.
The College of Architecture will cut $20,000 in its
Area of Excellence funding, Administrative Assistant
Peggy Mitchell said. The money finances enrichment pro
grams, such as research, speakers and travel to conferen
ces, she said.
About 185 students may be denied admission to his
tory classes when the History Department eliminates four
sections of survey courses, Chairman James Rawley said.
Ironically, he said, the department will begin requiring
Continued on Page 6
CFA reinstates program council funds
By Mike Patras
The Committee for Fees Allocation reinstated most of
the University Program Council's original budget requests
after hearing appeals Tuesday.
The committee recommended that UPC receive $2.52
per person per semester in 1982-83. The council currently
receives SI. 97 per person per semester.
Originally, UPC requested $117,624.55. The commit
tee originally recommended a reduction to $102,968.05.
After UPC appealed the decision, the committee recom
mended that UPC recieve $107,212.55 in 1982-83.
After the appeals, CFA recommended UPC-City's
original budget request of $44,139.40. UPC-East's or
iginal request of $16,318.65 was recommended also. UPC
Culture Center's budget was reduced $462, making its
final recommendation $12,092.50.
CFA also reinstated funds requested for video pro
grams on City Campus next year. UPC-City wants to show
films every few weeks during the coming school year,
according to Steve Arkfeld, chariman of the UPC execu
tive board. UPC-City will be experimenting with The
Sting in a few weeks to determine student interest, Ark
feld said. Along with contemporary films, concert tapes
might be shown too, he said.
Arkfeld questioned CFA about its recommended bud
get for the Campus Activities and Programs office. He said
UPC does not support the committee's move to reduce
the CAP office staff. He asked CFA to reconsider the pro
gram council's request to have its own secretary and
bookkeeper.
CFA also heard budget appeals from the Culture
Center. CFA had recommended reducing funds for the
center's office expenses, an honors banquet, Black Spec
ial Events and Chicano Special Events.
"We are asking to keep just what we have," Yvette
Jardine, Culture Center vice president said during test
imony. "We're not trying to broaden our program."
CFA reinstated most of the Culture Center's original
request, reducing only a small amount for Chicano Spec
ial Events.
Eugene Tolston, Afrikan Peoples Union president, said
CFA should examine fee-users in more detail rather then
with general figures. If a committee does not understand
part of a budget, it should ask for more details rather than
reducing the budget and asking for budget justifications
during appeals, he said.
"It might have been better on our part to possibly ask
for more details in some areas," CFA Chariman Jim
Frohman said.
CFA also heard budget appeals from the Nebraska
Unions and the Recreation Department Tuesday from
7 pjn. to midnight. Because of the length of the hear
ing and the large number of people who wanted to testify,
CFA postponed a decision on the union and recreation
department budgets until tonight.
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